Mark of Athena Re-Read
by ThePercyJacksonOracle
Summary: Camp Half Blood and the gods are stressed out. They know that the seven are off, but they don't know what condition they are in. With a helpful tool from Hera, Camp Half-Blood starts reading the seven's tale. T for monster-slaying, length, and general Percabeth.
1. Prolouge

**Mark of Athena Re-read**

**Chapter One**

**Thalia**

Out of all the things she could have given , it was a book. Thalia was walking the beach, stressing herself out. Her best friend, Annabeth, was going to California on a warship with her newly re-united brother, Jason, going to rescue her other best friend, Percy, who was with a highly hostile group of Romans. Yeah, peace of cake.

Just when she was going to leave the beach, she saw a burst of light and shielded her eyes. When she looked back, her least favorite goddess was standing there. Yes, Hera, Queen of the gods, the loose cannon, came all the way down from Olympus to give me _a book._

When she saw me she started to hand out the book."I understand I may have been a jerk to you in the past, so I have a gift for you. Take it." she said motioning towards the book. I was stunned what would a stupid book do for me? As if reading my mind, she soon answered my question as I grabbed the book "This book will auto-update on the seven's progress" she said. "I hope you like it because not all of it will be pretty." "How can it be ugly? Its a book," I reply. I was a bit annoyed, but this book could help us see what the seven were doing.

All the Hunter's and the Camp's golden drachmas were gone and they had vanished right before the trip. I swore the Stolls had something to do with it, but I didn't want to cross them. They have an already bad reputation with the hunter's and if I accuse them, it might cause an all-out war.

"Okay then, I'll read this tonight at the camp-fire," I say. Hera seems pleased and then leaves with another flash of light. _Well, _I think to myself,_ this could take a bit of explaining to Chiron._

As I climb to the podium at the campfire, the camp quiets down. As I address the camp, the 12 Olympians and Hades appear behind the back row and surprise the heck out of a sleeping Hypnos kid. "Heroes and Gods! We have been given a magic book by Hera that fallows the seven's quest!" The camp grows silent, and we all know why. If _Hera _has given us a magic book, than nothing can be good. "As the book updates, we will read them around this campfire, switching readers." I say. "Tonight, I will read the first chapter and if you want to hear about what happens to Percy, Jason, and the res of the seven, you will have to listen." "Alright, Lets start then!" yells Posiden.

**AN: I hope you guys like this story! It will be a bit out of my comfort zone, but this idea was just too good! Comments are appreciated. This will be the first of a trilogy: MoA, HoH, and BoO.**

**Next chapter will be Annabeth's POV.**


	2. Chapter I Thalia

DISCLAIMER: Rick Riordan owns the parts in bold. I do not.

Thalia

**Annabeth**

**Until she met the exploding statue, Annabeth thought she was prepared for anything.**

"She probably was!" joked Conner Stoll. _Idiot, _I thought.

**She'd paced the deck of their flying warship, the **_**Argo II, **_**checking and double-checking the ballistae to make sure they were locked down. She confirmed that the white "We come in peace" flag was flying from the mast. She reviewed the plan with the rest of the crew—and the backup plan and the backup plan for the backup plan.**

"Talk about OCD..." said an Ares camper. Athena gave her the death-stare.

**Most important, she pulled aside their war-crazed chaperone, Coach Gleeson Hedge, and encouraged him to take the morning off in his cabin and watch reruns of mixed martial arts championships. The last thing they needed as they flew a magical Greek trireme into a potentially hostile Roman camp was a middle-aged satyr in gym clothes waving a club and yelling "Die!" **

"That would be amazing!" shouted the entire Hermes cabin. Everyone stared as Hermes shouted with them.

**Everything seemed to be in order. Even that mysterious chill she'd been feeling since the ship launched had dissipated, at least for now.**

The gods all shifted in their seats. _'Uh-oh. What did they do now?'_

**The warship descended through the clouds, but Annabeth couldn't stop second-guessing herself. What if this was a bad idea? **

"It is," Athena muttered to herself. She disliked her daughter's relationship with the sea-spawn, but she absolutely _hated _the Roman's for them making her _Minerva_.

**What if the Romans panicked and attacked them on sight? The Argo II definitely did not look friendly. Two hundred feet long, with a bronze-plated hull, mounted repeating cross-bows fore and aft, a flaming metal dragon for a figurehead, and two rotating ballistae amidships that could fire explosive bolts powerful enough to blast through concrete... **

"Beautiful..." mused the Hephastus campers. Everyone looked at them like they were crazy, even their dad.

**Well, it wasn't the most appropriate ride for a meet-and-greet with the neighbors. **

"No kidding..." muttered Will Solace. He would send their camp into 'DEFCON 1' mode if the Argo II came in and they didn't know it was friendly.

**Annabeth had tried to give the Romans a heads-up. She'd asked Leo to send one of his special inventions – a holographic scroll – to alert their friends inside the camp. Hopefully the message had gotten through. **

_To Percy, _Thalia thought. If a crazed evil-dude got it, then it won't do any good.

**Leo had wanted to paint a giant message on the bottom of the hull - WASSUP? with a smiley face – but Annabeth vetoed the idea. She wasn't sure the Romans had a sense of humor. **

"They don't", said Zeus quietly, but everyone heard what he said. All random conversations stopped there.

**Too**** late to turn back now. The clouds broke around their hull, revealing the gold-and-green carpet of the Oakland Hills below them. Annabeth gripped one of the bronze shields that lined the starboard rail. Her three crewmates took their places.**

"Leonard, Gracen, and Kiper, was it?" Mr. D said groggily, obviously just waking up from a nap. The campers simply glared at him as the gods tried to not laugh. It wasn't working.

**On the stern quarterdeck, Leo rushed around like a madman, checking his gauges and wrestling levers. Most helmsmen would've been satisfied with a pilot's wheel or a tiller. Leo had also installed a keyboard, monitor, aviation controls from a Learjet, a dubstep soundboard, and motion-control sensors from a Nintendo Wii. He could turn the ship by pulling on the throttle, fire weapons by sampling an album, or raise sails by shaking his Wii controllers really fast. Even by demigod standards, Leo was seriously ADHD.**

"No, he's perfecly normal" said Clarise, with a heavy dose of sarcasm. This earned her a grin from her dad. **Piper paced back and forth between the mainmast and the ballistae, practicing her lines.** "For a movie, or a TV show?"

"**Lower your weapons," she murmured. "We just want to talk." ** **Her charmspeak was so powerful, the words flowed over Annabeth, filling her with the desire to ** **drop her dagger and have a nice long chat. **

"That's my girl!" sqeeled Aphrodite. Drew scoffed at her mother.

**For a child of Aphrodite, Piper tried hard to play down her beauty. Today she was dressed in ** **tattered jeans, worn-out sneakers, and a white tank top with pink Hello Kitty designs. (Maybe as a joke, though Annabeth could never be sure with Piper.)**

_It's **always** a joke with her, _thought Drew.

**Her choppy brown hair was braided down the right side with an eagle's feather. ** **Then there was Piper's boyfriend—Jason. He stood at the bow on the raised crossbow platform, ** **where the Romans could easily spot him. His knuckles were white on the hilt of his golden sword. ** **Otherwise he looked calm for a guy who was making himself a target. Over his jeans and orange ** **Camp Half-Blood T-shirt, he'd donned a toga and a purple cloak—symbols of his old rank as praetor. **

"What do you mean 'old'? muttered Zeus.

**With his wind-ruffled blond hair and his icy blue eyes, he looked ruggedly handsome and in control—just like a son of Jupiter should. He'd grown up at Camp Jupiter, so hopefully his familiar face would make the Romans hesitant to blow the ship out of the sky. ** **Annabeth tried to hide it, but she still didn't completely trust the guy. He acted too perfect—** **always following the rules, always doing the honorable thing. He even looked too perfect. In the back of her mind, she had a nagging thought: What if this is a trick and he betrays us? What if we sail into Camp Jupiter, and he says, Hey, Romans! Check out these prisoners and this cool ship I brought you! **

"That better not happen," growled Nyssa. She had been one of the kids who worked on it with Leo. Every. Single. Day.

**Annabeth doubted that would happen. Still, she couldn't look at him without getting a bitter taste in her mouth. He'd been part of Hera's forced "exchange program" to introduce the two camps. Her Most Annoying Majesty,**

"I'll remember that," Hera said.

**Queen of Olympus, had convinced the other gods that their two sets of children—Roman and Greek—had to combine forces to save the world from the evil goddess Gaea, who was awakening from the earth, and her horrible children the giants. ** **Without warning, Hera had plucked up Percy Jackson, Annabeth's boyfriend, wiped his memory, ** **and sent him to the Roman camp. In exchange, the Greeks had gotten Jason. None of that was Jason's ** **fault; but every time Annabeth saw him, she remembered how much she missed Percy. ** **Percy…who was somewhere below them right now. **

"Aww!" cooed the Aphrodite cabin. "Percabeth!" One shouted.

**Oh, gods. Panic welled up inside her. She forced it down. She couldn't afford to get overwhelmed. ** **I'm a child of Athena, she told herself. I have to stick to my plan and not get distracted. ** **She felt it again—that familiar shiver, as if a psychotic snowman had crept up behind her and was breathing down her neck. She turned, but no one was there. Must be her nerves. Even in a world of gods and monsters, Annabeth couldn't believe a new ** **warship would be haunted.**

"They can, believe me," Clariesse muttered under her wondered what she meant.

**The Argo II was well protected. The Celestial bronze shields along the rail ** **were enchanted to ward off monsters, and their onboard satyr, Coach Hedge, would have sniffed out any intruders. **

"Then," Conner continued, "He would've hit them on the head with his club yelling 'Die!'while running around." Everyone laughed at his addition.

**Annabeth wished she could pray to her mother for guidance, but that wasn't possible now. Not ** **after last month, when she'd had that horrible encounter with her mom and gotten the worst present of her life.… **

Athena, who usually never showed emotion, put her head down in shame. Malcom moved closer to comfort her.

**The cold pressed closer. She thought she heard a faint voice in the wind, laughing. Every muscle ** **in her body tensed. Something was about to go terribly wrong. ** **She almost ordered Leo to reverse course. Then, in the valley below, horns sounded. The Romans ** **had spotted them. ** **Annabeth thought she knew what to expect. Jason had described Camp Jupiter to her in great ** **detail. Still, she had trouble believing her eyes. Ringed by the Oakland Hills, the valley was at least twice the size of Camp Half-Blood.**

"Wow!" Shouted all the younger kids. The teenagers simply looked impressed.

**A small river snaked around one side and curled toward the center ** **like a capital letter G, emptying into a sparkling blue lake. ** _Pery would ike that, _Thalia thought.

**Directly below the ship, nestled at the edge of the lake, the city of New Rome gleamed in the ** **sunlight. She recognized landmarks Jason had told her about—the hippodrome, the coliseum, the ** **temples and parks, the neighborhood of Seven Hills with its winding streets, colorful villas, and ** **flowering gardens. ** **She saw evidence of the Romans' recent battle with an army of monsters. The dome was cracked ** **open on a building she guessed was the Senate House.  
****The forum's broad plaza was pitted with ** **craters. Some fountains and statues were in ruins. ** **Dozens of kids in togas were streaming out of the Senate House to get a better view of the Argo II. ** **More Romans emerged from the shops and cafés, gawking and pointing as the ship descended.  
** **About half a mile to the west, where the horns were blowing, a Roman fort stood on a hill. It ** **looked just like the illustrations Annabeth had seen in military history books—with a defensive trench lined with spikes, high walls, and watchtowers armed with scorpion ballistae. Inside, perfect rows of white barracks lined the main road—the Via Principalis.**

"Wow," the campers repeated.

**A column of demigods emerged from the gates, their armor and spears glinting as they hurried ** **toward the city. In the midst of their ranks was an actual war elephant. **

"I wan't one!" shouted Travis and Conner at the same time. Everybody burst out laughing.

**Annabeth wanted to land the Argo II before those troops arrived, but the ground was still several ** **hundred feet below. She scanned the crowd, hoping to catch a glimpse of Percy. ** **Then something behind her went BOOM! **

It was dead quiet, as the campers waited to see what beast would kill their friends.

**The explosion almost knocked her overboard. She whirled and found herself eye to eye with an angry statue.**

"It's a statue. How can it be angry? Is it a new kind of statue?" asked Claresse with boredom.

"**Unacceptable!" he shrieked. **

Conner swiftly replied to Clairesse, "The talking kind," with a perfectly straight face.

**Apparently he had exploded into existence, right there on the deck. Sulfurous yellow smoke rolled off his shoulders. Cinders popped around his curly hair. From the waist down, he was nothing but a square marble pedestal. From the waist up, he was a muscular human figure in a carved toga.** "**I will not have weapons inside the Pomerian Line!" he announced in a fussy teacher voice. "I ** **certainly will not have Greeks!" **

"Did he just say the Pomagranite line?" Apollo bravely asked. Artemis replied, "No you doof! He said the _Pomerian Line_!" "I knew that," he muttered as the other gods sighed in annoyance.

**Jason shot Annabeth a look that said, I've got this. ** "**Terminus," he said. "It's me. Jason Grace." ** "**Oh, I remember you, Jason!" Terminus grumbled. "I thought you had better sense than to consort with the enemies of Rome!" ** "**But they're not enemies—" ** "**That's right," Piper jumped in. "We just want to talk. If we could—" "Ha!" snapped the statue. "Don't try that charmspeak on me, young lady. And put down that dagger before I slap it out of your hands!" ** **Piper glanced at her bronze dagger, which she'd apparently forgotten she was holding. ** "**Um…okay. But how would you slap it? You don't have any arms." **

_How **is ** he?, _thought Thalia.

"**Impertinence!" There was a sharp POP and a flash of yellow. Piper yelped and dropped the ** **dagger, which was now smoking and sparking. ** "**Lucky for you I've just been through a battle," Terminus announced. "If I were at full strength, I would've blasted this flying monstrosity out of the sky already!" ** "**Hold up." Leo stepped forward, wagging his Wii controller. "Did you just call my ship a ** **monstrosity? I know you didn't do that." **

"Never get between that man and his machine," said Jake to his cabinmates.

**The idea that Leo might attack the statue with his gaming device was enough to snap Annabeth ** **out of her shock. ** "**Let's all calm down." She raised her hands to show she had no weapons. "I take it you're ** **Terminus, the god of boundaries. Jason told me you protect the city of New Rome, right? I'm ** **Annabeth Chase, daughter of—" ** "**Oh, I know who you are!" The statue glared at her with its blank white eyes. "A child of Athena, ** **Minerva's Greek form. Scandalous! You Greeks have no sense of decency. We Romans know the ** **proper place for that goddess." **

Malcom jerked his head up at that comment. "What did he just say? He better not have said that!"

**Annabeth clenched her jaw. This statue wasn't making it easy to be diplomatic. "What exactly do ** **you mean, that goddess? And what's so scandalous about—" ** "**Right!" Jason interrupted. "Anyway, Terminus, we're here on a mission of peace. We'd love ** **permission to land so we can—" ** "**Impossible!" the god squeaked. "Lay down your weapons and surrender! Leave my city ** **immediately!" "Which is it?" Leo asked. "Surrender, or leave?" ** "**Both!" Terminus said. **

"Like that's going to happen" said Athena. She was right, Annabeth had a way of getting what she wanted.

"**Surrender, then leave. I am slapping your face for asking such a stupid question, you ridiculous boy! Do you feel that?" ** "**Wow." Leo studied Terminus with professional interest. "You're wound up pretty tight. You got ** **any gears in there that need loosening? I could take a look." ** **He exchanged the Wii controller for a screwdriver from his magic tool belt and tapped the statue's pedestal. ** "**Stop that!" Terminus insisted. Another small explosion made Leo drop his screwdriver. ** "**Weapons are not allowed on Roman soil inside the Pomerian Line." ** "**The what?" Piper asked. ** "**City limits," Jason translated. **

"Wait, city? They have a city!" exlaimed Katie. "How could they have a city? I thought they trained all day?" At this point everyone was confused.

"**And this entire ship is a weapon!" Terminus said. "You cannot land!" ** **Down in the valley, the legion reinforcements were halfway to the city. The crowd in the forum ** **was over a hundred strong now. Annabeth scanned the faces and…oh, gods. She saw him. He was ** **walking toward the ship with his arms around two other kids like they were best buddies—a stout boy with a black buzz cut, and a girl wearing a Roman cavalry helmet. Percy looked so at ease, so happy.**

"Percy better not have hurt Annabeth. And if he does-" Thalia let the threat hang.

**He wore a purple cape just like Jason's—the mark of a praetor. ** **Annabeth's heart did a gymnastics routine. **

"Percabeth!" shouted Aphrodite, and her children followed suit.

"**Leo, stop the ship," she ordered. ** "**What?" ** "**You heard me. Keep us right where we are." Leo pulled out his controller and yanked it upward. All ninety oars froze in place. The ship ** **stopped sinking. ** "**Terminus," Annabeth said, "there's no rule against hovering over New Rome, is there?" ** **The statue frowned. "Well, no…" ** "**We can keep the ship aloft," Annabeth said. "We'll use a rope ladder to reach the forum. That ** **way, the ship won't be on Roman soil. Not technically." **

"Very smart of you," said Athena. Getting praise from her was better than from any other god.

**The statue seemed to ponder this. Annabeth wondered if he was scratching his chin with ** **imaginary hands. ** "**I like technicalities," he admitted. "Still…" ** "**All our weapons will stay aboard the ship," Annabeth promised. "I assume the Romans—even ** **those reinforcements marching toward us—will also have to honor your rules inside the Pomerian Line if you tell them to?" ** "**Of course!" Terminus said. "Do I look like I tolerate rule breakers?" ** "**Uh, Annabeth…" Leo said. "You sure this is a good idea?" **

"He doubts her!?" Athena shouted. Hecate quickly put a spell on her to make her mute, because she wanted to hear this.

**She closed her fists to keep them from shaking. That cold feeling was still there. It floated just ** **behind her, and now that Terminus was no longer shouting and causing explosions, she thought she could hear the presence laughing, as if it was delighted by the bad choices she was making. ** **But Percy was down there…he was so close. She had to reach him. **

"Aww" came from the Aphrodite cabin again. "Will you shut it?!" came from the Ares cabin.

"**It'll be fine," she said. "No one will be armed. We can talk in peace. Terminus will make sure ** **each side obeys the rules." She looked at the marble statue. "Do we have an agreement?" ** **Terminus sniffed. "I suppose. For now. You may climb down your ladder to New Rome, daughter ** **of Athena. Please try not to destroy my town." **

"To be continued," Conner said into his camera. He had caught it all on film, and was planing on making a movie out of the reading. Maybe even a book.

**Hint Hint**.

"Who will read next?" Thalia asked. Katie Gardener smirked, stood up, and said I volunteer as Tribute. Thalia smiled and gave the book to her. Most kids didn't know what just happened, but the ones who were laughing their buts off. "II ANNABETH" she said as she began.

**AN: I hope you guys iked the chapter. I'm sorry that this story hasn't been updated in a while, but I couldn't find my copy of The Mark of Athena. I'm thinking of asking a question for each chapter, so this chapter's question is this: How much wood could a wood-chuck chuck, if a wood-chuck could chuck wood? As always, please put your answer or opinion in the box below, and feel free to comment. I want to know if you like how this went. PM me if you have any questions, and have a fun day!** **-PJO**

**Update: Sorry for those people who saw the bottom had no separation. Thank You to the people who alerted me.**


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